President Muhammadu Buhari has backed plans by the Kaduna State government to arrest the falling standard of education.
Kaduna State has threatened to sack hundreds of teachers who failed the competency test administered on them, to ascertain their suitability to teach school children.
He said: “It is a very, very serious situation when teachers cannot pass the exam they are supposed to teach the children to pass. It’s a very tragic situation we are in.”
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai tweeted the test results of the primary school teachers last week. He asked the public: “Would you allow someone like this to teach your child?
“We are putting these out in the court of public opinion for Nigerians to make their verdict. Here are some of the Primary 4 competency test scripts conducted for primary school teachers in Kaduna State.”
The governor said teachers who were marked below 75% will be sacked but they can re-apply if they can improve their grades. The BBC reported that at least 19,000 applications had already been received to replace the teachers who will be sacked.
But Labour unions are opposing the plans to sack the teachers and branded the move ‘propaganda’.
UN children’s agency UNICEF found out that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. Around 10 million children have no access to basic education in Nigeria and UNICEF described the education system as beset by poor teachers with a lack of teaching facilities.